Movement and force dynamics in bimanual cooperative tasks in chronic stroke and healthy individuals

Podobnik, Janez (author), Munih, Marko (author), Mihelj, Matjaž (author)

Stroke rehabilitation often involves the use of haptic robots to improve motor control and bimanual coordination. This study examines how damping affects movement and force dynamics in bimanual tasks performed by healthy participants and participants with chronic stroke using a haptic robotic system equipped with force sensors for each hand. Participants completed tasks at three damping levels: 0$\frac{N}{m/s}$ (no damping), 20$\frac{N}{m/s}$ (low damping), and 40$\frac{N}{m/s}$ (moderate damping). Key parameters for trajectory of movement, velocity, manipulation force, and internal force were analyzed to assess movement stability and control. The results revealed that damping 20$\frac{N}{m/s}$ effectively stabilized movements in persons with stroke, reducing velocity deviations and making their performance more comparable to healthy participants, without introducing excessive resistance. In contrast, damping 40$\frac{N}{m/s}$ acted as resistance training. Participants with stroke exhibited consistently higher internal forces than healthy participants, reflecting compensatory strategies and inefficient motor control. These findings demonstrate that low damping (20$\frac{N}{m/s}$) offers an optimal balance between movement stabilization and resistance, highlighting its potential as a rehabilitation strategy, while moderate damping (40$\frac{N}{m/s}$) may be reserved for resistance training.

• Language: English
• Keywords: bimanual coordination, haptic robot, movement dynamics, cooperative movements
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FE - Faculty of Electrical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 476-484
• Numbering: Vol. 45, iss. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-171059
• UDC: 007.52
• ISSN on article: 0208-5216
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbe.2025.07.002
• COBISS.SI-ID: 244313091
• Publication date in RUL: 30.07.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Biocybernetics and biomedical engineering
• Shortened title: Biocybern. biomed. eng.
• Publisher: Elsevier, Polish Academy of Sciences, Nalecz Institute of Biocybernetics and Biomedical Engineering
• ISSN: 0208-5216
• COBISS.SI-ID: 9704153

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: dvoročna koordinacija, haptični robot, dinamika gibanja, sodelujoče gibanje

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0228
• Name: Analiza in sinteza gibanja pri človeku in stroju